Licensed & insured general contractor · Chicago · Since 1999
☎ (773) 969-9097·bofranbuilders@gmail.com
Get a realistic framing budget for your Chicago project in about thirty seconds. Pick your scope, set the size, and tell us about the site — the range updates as you go, using Bofran's own Chicago material and labor rates rather than a national average.
Framing is priced by the square foot of framed area for structural work, and by the linear foot for partition walls. Choose your scope below and the calculator switches units for you.
Or call (773) 969-9097 and talk it through
This is a planning range for budgeting, not a bid. It reflects 2026 Chicago-area material and labor pricing and the site conditions you selected — lumber pricing alone swings 10–20% through the year. Your firm number depends on drawings, existing structure, span and beam sizing, and any code upgrades the city requires. Request a free on-site estimate for an itemized figure.
These are the baseline rates behind the calculator, before site conditions are applied. Framing carries roughly a fifth of a residential project's budget, and it is the one trade where a mistake is expensive to unwind later — everything after it is measured off what the framer built.
| Project | Baseline cost |
|---|---|
| Commercial build-out package | $6–$15 /sq ft |
| Gut-rehab interior reframe | $12–$25 /sq ft |
| Multi-unit gut reframe | $12–$25 /sq ft |
| Floor system — joists & subfloor | $14–$26 /sq ft |
| Garage, porch or deck framing | $14–$25 /sq ft |
| New home structural shell | $18–$35 /sq ft |
| Roof re-framing | $18–$34 /sq ft |
| Attic conversion / dormer | $20–$38 /sq ft |
| Room addition framing | $20–$40 /sq ft |
| Second-story addition framing | $25–$45 /sq ft |
| Wall type | Baseline cost |
|---|---|
| Furring over masonry | $12–$20 /lin ft |
| Basement framing | $12–$22 /lin ft |
| Wood partition (multi-unit) | $15–$30 /lin ft |
| Metal stud partition | $18–$28 /lin ft |
| Sound-rated partition | $22–$35 /lin ft |
| 1-hour demising wall | $30–$45 /lin ft |
| 2-hour rated / shaft wall | $45–$60 /lin ft |
| Scope | Installed |
|---|---|
| Wall removal — LVL beam | $4,500–$12,000 |
| Wall removal — steel beam | $8,000–$25,000 |
Most of the gap between two framing bids is not the crew rate — it is what each contractor quietly left out. Here is the line Bofran draws, so you can hold every bid you receive to the same scope.
The calculator applies these factors as you select them. They are also the questions to ask any framer before you sign — the ones who do not ask are the ones who write change orders later.
Dimensional lumber and sheathing are quoted weekly and move hard. A framing number more than a few weeks old is a starting point, not a price.
Every valley, dormer and vaulted ceiling is cut and fit on site. A simple gable goes up in days; a multi-plane hip roof with dormers takes a week longer.
On a standard Chicago lot there is nowhere to stage a lumber package. Material gets handled two and three times, and deliveries have to be timed to the day.
Shoring, dust walls, daily weather protection and phasing the work so the family can stay. It is the single most underestimated line in a remodel frame.
Walls over ten feet, three-story work and anything needing a lift or crane changes the crew size, the staging and the schedule.
LVL, PSL and structural steel are sized by an engineer, not estimated. Span, load above and post-down-to-footing path decide the number.
Most Chicago framing work runs $18 to $45 per square foot of framed area for labor and materials, before site factors are applied. A simple garage or porch frame sits near the bottom of that band; a second-story addition over an occupied home sits at the top. Tight city lots, complex roofs, tall walls and working around a family living in the house all push the number up — which is exactly why the calculator above asks about them instead of handing you one flat rate.
A Bofran framing number covers layout, wall framing, floor systems, roof framing, sheathing and weather barrier, engineered beams and structural connectors, fasteners, cutting waste, crew labor and cleanup of framing debris. It does not cover foundations, windows and doors, insulation, drywall, roofing, siding, mechanicals or finishes. The full inclusion list is above — hold every bid you receive to the same scope before comparing them.
For non-load-bearing interior partitions the installed cost is comparable at scale — metal stud runs about $18 to $28 per linear foot against $15 to $30 for wood. Steel pulls ahead once you add fire ratings, sound ratings, heavier load-bearing gauge or tall walls, where a rated assembly can run 20 to 80 percent above a standard partition. Steel is also dimensionally stable and non-combustible, which is why commercial build-outs default to it. See our steel framing and wood framing pages for how we choose between them.
Budget $4,500 to $12,000 for a load-bearing wall removal carried on an LVL beam, and $8,000 to $25,000 when the span or the load above calls for structural steel. Both include temporary shoring, the beam itself, posts and footings where required, and the framing work to close everything back in. In Chicago this work always requires wet-sealed structural drawings, so add the engineer to your budget from the start.
Yes. Structural framing in Chicago goes through Standard Plan Review and requires drawings wet-sealed by an Illinois-licensed architect or structural engineer under Chicago Construction Codes section 14A-4-411.4.1. The city permit fee itself is modest; the sealed drawings are the real line item. Expect roughly one to three weeks of review for simple work and seven to nine weeks once structural review is involved — plan the schedule around it. More in our guide to why permits matter on Chicago construction.
It is a planning range, not a bid. The rates come from Bofran's own Chicago material and labor data and are adjusted for the conditions you select. A real number needs drawings and a walkthrough, because the things that genuinely move a framing budget — existing structure, span conditions, beam sizing, access and code upgrades — can only be confirmed on site. Use the range to set your budget, then book a free estimate to firm it up.
A garage, porch or deck frame is typically three to ten days. A room addition runs one to two weeks, a second story one to three weeks, and a full house shell two to four weeks. Commercial partition work is measured in linear feet per week: roughly 300 to 600 for standard partitions and 150 to 300 for rated demising walls. Weather, inspection scheduling and lumber delivery windows are the usual reasons a frame runs long in Chicago.
Send us your plans, sketches or even photos and rough dimensions. We will walk the site, price the actual structure, and give you an itemized framing figure you can hold us to — at no cost and with no obligation.
Licensed Illinois general contractor TGC136082 · Chicago and surrounding suburbs